Stoudemire, Rose pass Celtics in All-Star voting

January 13, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) — The Knicks' Amare Stoudemire and Chicago's Derrick Rose have surged into position to start in the NBA All-Star game through the fourth return of fan voting.

Stoudemire passed perennial starter Kevin Garnett on Thursday for the second forward spot in the Eastern Conference, while Rose moved ahead of the Celtics' Rajon Rondo in a battle of guards hoping to make their first start.

Stoudemire, in his first season in New York, is nearly 94,000 votes ahead of Garnett as he bids to become the first Knicks player voted to start since Patrick Ewing in 1992. Rose is now 54,264 in front of Rondo.

All other leaders remained the same for the Feb. 20 game at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Lakers' Kobe Bryant is the overall vote leader and the Hornets' Chris Paul is second at guard in the West, joined by forwards Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City) and Carmelo Anthony (Denver), and center Yao Ming (Houston).

Orlando center Dwight Howard is the East's leading vote-getter. Miami teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade maintain big leads at their positions.

Paper balloting ends Jan. 17 and voting on NBA.com continues through Jan. 23. Starters will be announced on Jan. 27.